A COVID-19 outbreak has hit the San Francisco Fire Department, with up to 60 cases this month, including 40 active cases, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle, citing department officials.
The spike is impacting staffing, but for now, it's not impacting operations, a department spokesman told the newspaper.
About 98% of the department's nearly 1,800 workers are fully vaccinated.
Firefighters are subject to the city’s vaccine mandate, which as of Wednesday includes a booster mandate that applies to all people who work in high-risk jobs.
Fire Department employees who test positive are removed from work and required to quarantine, department spokesman Lt. Jonathan Baxter told the Chronicle. San Francisco health officials have decided to stick with existing quarantine guidance — a 10-day isolation period for asymptomatic cases — rather than follow the new five-day recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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